Philp and Galloway Families

[Douglas Philp]

I am searching for any info on or relatives of my great great grandfather John Philp who married Helen Pringle Galloway in or around Cupar, Fife, Scotland about 1848. They immigrated to Lee County, Iowa in 1858 with 5 of their children and much of Helen's family and I have a somewhat complete history of the family from that time forward. All I know so far is John's mother's name was Catherine and Helen's parents were Alexander and Ellen (Mcintyre) Galloway. I am mainly interested in finding earlier info on the families in Scotland and maybe even find some distant cousins still in Scotland.

Doug Philp

[KathNZ]

Do you have a date of birth for John and Helen

[Waitabit]

in 1841 there lived a Family 'Gallowa' in Fife, Scotland. The Father Alexander 35 his Wife Helen 35 & their 5 children:
Helen 13,..Hector 11,...Thomas 8,..James 6,..& George 5. All born in Radernie,Fife in the civil Parish of Cameron.

Perhaps this is your Family?

[olliecat]

Hi Doug

I had a look for your family. First of all, I came across a tree on Ancestry that appears to have quite a lot of information on your family, particularly on Helen Pringle Galloway and her parents and siblings. There is no information about John Philps parents. It could be your tree of course.

I guess this is your Helen's christening record...

name: Helen Pringle Galloway
gender: Female
baptism/christening date: 27 Jun 1828
baptism/christening place: Dunino, Fife, Scotland
birth date: 20 Jun 1828
father's name: Alexander Galloway
mother's name: Helen Macintyre
record title: Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950

And this is possibly her marriage.

groom's name: John Philp
bride's name: Helen Galloway
marriage date: 05 Jun 1847
marriage place: St Andrews And St Leonards, Fife, Scotland
record title: Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910

I spotted John and Helen Philp in the 1851 census in Cupar. Mother Catherine Philp was staying. I searched for them in 1841, until I discovered that the 1841 census for Cupar went missing (according to Genuki.)

I'll post the census details so others can see.

1851: Parish: Cupar; ED: 6; Page: 4; Line: 16 (Care of the GRO for Scotland)
16 Castlefield, Cupar, Fife
John Philp 35, carrier, born Cupar
Helen Philp 23, born Denino
Helen Philp 2, born Cupar
Catherine Philp 71, born Newburgh

According to the tree on Ancestry, John Philp was born on 11 Nov 1815. In the census, John states he was born in Cupar. I couldn't see a christening for him on family search but I did come across a christening of an Elizabeth Philp in 1810 in Cupar; father William Philp and mother Catharine Bell and I wondered if this could be a sibling. There was a marriage between William Philp and Katharine Bell on 23 Oct 1803 at Cupar.

Have you thought of looking on ScotlandsPeople for a christening for John? As far as I can make out, they have birth/baptisms covering Cupar as well as marriage and death/burial records. You could also look for a death/burial for the parents.

Note: for anyone else looking at this family, I spent some time being sidetracked by a John Philp born abt 1816 in Markinch. His mum was also called Catherine, but I think she is in the 1851 census in Markinch with her daughter and so this must be a different Catherine and a different son John.

[KathNZ]

I see there is a tree on Ancestry with this family on it, which could be yours.
Could you please let us know some specific things you would like to find out so we don't duplicate research you have already done.

[Douglas Philp]

Thanks to all,

Yes, I have a tree on ancestry but it is limited to parental lines only. (no Siblings). John and Helen did live with John's mother at the Castlefield address in Cupar at the census time in 1851. (I actually visited the house last May on a trip there). John and Helen and children boarded a ship (the Edinburgh) in Glasgow in Apr. 1858 so I have always assumed his mother Catherine must have died by then as they would not have left her behind alone.
However, I just recently recieved a copy from the Lee county courthouse of John's hand written will, dated 1882. He mentions the money from the sale of the house in Scotland to go to certain heirs and now I'm wondering if that is the #16 Castlefield house. Would Cupar have any records to shed light on this? Maybe Catherine did stay behind at Castlefield or with other family members.
The will also mentions insurance money from Scotland. I have always believed that desperate times forced John and his family to leave Scotland with 5 little kids but if he owned property and had insurance how desperate could he have been? We have never really known why they came to rural Iowa or how they got there from New York. So the search goes on.

As for the Galloways, Alexander and Ellen along with some of the children mentioned came on the same ship with John and Helen
and also settled in Iowa near the Philps. For this large of a group of people to come to where they did there must have been a good reason. I believe other family members or acquaintances must have arrived before.

So, these are the 2 families I am researching in Scotland and maybe some decendants there know why others left.

Thanks again for all the input.

Doug

[Gregory McGraw]

Hello, my name is Gregory Lee McGraw. My mother was Alice Lucile Philp, daughter of Harry John and Luella Mae Powell Philp. John’s parents were Enoch Alexander Philp, B: 22 Feb, 1856, D: Nov 2, 1906 in New Boston, Lee, Iowa, USA and an American Lucinda Messenger
I am looking for connections to John Philp, B: 11 Nov. 1815, D: 20 Jun 1884 in New Boston, Lee, Iowa, USA. He was married on 18 June 1847 in Fife, to Helen Pringle Galloway, B: 20 Jan, 1829 in Dunino, Fife, D: 7 Aug, 1881 in New Boston, Lee County, Iowa, USA.
I had just come across some documents on Ancestory.com showing John’s parents being John Philp B: 20 Feb 1781, D: 4 Mar, 1846 Markinch, Fife & married to Catherine Henderson B: abt. 1780 in Newburgh, Fife, D: abt. 1851 in Fife. John, the father, his parents being James Philp & Margaret Gilmer – Gilmour. I will be visiting Fife, Scotland in June 2016 for a day and thought if I could find family or locations …
Thank you for any and all help.

[Lesley Robertson]

Gregory, welcome to the British Genealogy Forum.

My first question must be why you think that there is a link between Enoch Alexander P and John P?
Do you know where Enoch was born? According to Scotlands People there was no birth of anyone called called Enoch Phil* (to catch both Philp and Philip and variants) registered anywhere in Scotland 1855-1858. I stopped at 1858 since message 1 says that's when they went to the USA. There were only 3 Enochs - surnames Mills, Pettigrew and Spence for that period in the whole of Scotland.

The nearest I can find is on FreeBMD, which has the birth certificates for England and Wales. Enoch Phillips born 1856 Kings Norton, England. There's a coupl of other Enochs with different birth years.

There's a collection of posts about sources etc at the top of our General Scottish Forum HERE



There is an entry in the 1841 census for Markinch showing a John P of the right age with a brother & sister, parents John & Catherine. He COULD be your guy but you'll have to check - it's not a very rare name - indeed, there's a second John & Helen couple in Fife in the 1851.

[Douglas Philp]

Hi cousin Gregory, My name is John Douglas Philp, son of Everett Philp Jr. who is son of Everett Philp Sr. who is son of Enoch Alexander Philp who is son of John Philp. I have done considerable research lately with the help of a professional genealogist in Scotland searching for John's parents. Although no records were found which conclusively prove the identity of the parents of John Philp, naming patterns and his connection to other Philps living in Cupar, Fife, strongly suggest that he was the son of William Philp, brewer, and his wife Katherine/Catherine Bell. John had at least 3 siblings, Andrew Philp (c.1806-1881), Elizabeth Philp (c.1810-1878) and Robert Philp (c.1816-1861). Members of the Philp family were living in Fife in the 1920s and there may be descendants still living in the area today. John and his family lived at 16 Castlefield in Cupar, Fife until they came to Iowa in 1858. My wife and I were there in May of 2010 and the house is still standing. Very cool! Hope you get to see it.

[Gregory McGraw]

Hello Cousin Douglas Philp,

It would be great to chat with you and perhaps combine our efforts. Not to sound insulting, but I would be happy to help with any expenses. I will be in Scotland June 17th - 19th this summer, 2016, and would be willing to share any / all information and photos. My e-mail is drawfastATattDOTnet.

Great hearing from you,

Gregory Lee McGraw
Son of Alice Philp, Grandson of Harry John Philp, who I found out was not a good human being.